State Rep. Ron McNair of Alpena says he wanted to crawl back inside his mailbox as soon as he saw the color campaign flier that he'd sent to prospective voters, proudly boasting of National Rifle Association endorsements.
McNair realized it was too late to do anything last week but shake his head in disbelief that he'd been pictured violating what's considered the Golden Rule in handgun safety.
The flier featured a large photograph of the candidate clad in an NRA cap and jacket while loading a clip in his left hand into an automatic pistol clasped in the other. The problem was that McNair's right index finger had been resting on the trigger.
"I knew as soon as I saw it what I'd done," he said. "It was all my fault. No one else is to blame. I just never noticed before that my finger was on the trigger."
McNair is seeking re-election to District 98 in a campaign pitting him in the GOP primary against John Arthur Hammerschmidt of Harrison. He said he had a sinking feeling when he realized there was nothing he could do to repair the damage.
In the interest of transparency, Hammerschmidt is my first cousin. But I don't endorse candidates, and certainly not relatives. I assured John Arthur I'd also have had something to say in this space had he been in McNair's shoes. He said he understood.
It's the irony here that, for me (an NRA member), makes this story worth telling. Truth is, it might not have been worthy of mention if there hadn't been those two endorsements and three other NRA emblems printed prominently on his flier, along with three references to preserving the Second Amendment.
Since it arrived in mailboxes across the district, I've also heard several others discussing McNair's finger resting on the trigger in the photograph. So I decided to forward this campaign picture to the NRA's national office for comment (since the flier states their endorsement immediately beneath the photograph). A lady named Catherine who received the picture said she forwarded it to their office of public affairs. Hours passed and I'd gotten no official response.
I found that somewhat surprising because the NRA preaches nothing louder than the need for gun safety.
After all, even McNair acknowledged his error: "The first thing you learn in a concealed-carry class is to keep your finger off the trigger."
Yet the NRA had offered no comment even by the following day. Perhaps the officials of that association were stunned into speechlessness by McNair's photo. Maybe they didn't know what to say. Neither seems very likely, does it?
So I suppose at this point I'll just have to assume the NRA might, just possibly, have had some change in endorsement policy and now has no problem with jamming a clip into an automatic pistol with one's finger on the trigger. In which case, McNair was doing just fine when the picture was snapped and placed on his campaign flier.
I wouldn't doubt that stranger things may have happened.
Politics over safety
Wouldn't it be refreshing to one day elect a president of these United States who places the legitimate interests and needs of the American people above self-interested, purely political acts?
The latest example for me is President Barack Obama's desire to "once and for all" shut down the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
It's clear to me that he's pushing this action in order to fulfill his 2008 campaign promise while supposedly considering the safest choice and best interests for the Americans he claims to be serving. The Associated Press reports Obama wants to transfer Gitmo's remaining most dangerous 60 or so detainees to some unnamed prison facility in our United States.
Safest choice for America? Hogswallop!
Imagine dumping these low-functioning undesirables into some Arkansas community. The president doesn't say who would be the lucky community to get these "detainees." One initial suggestion I heard was in South Carolina.
Obama acts as if his bad idea is to keep the next president from having to deal with Gitmo. You believe that? "Are we going to let this linger on for another 15 years?" is the way he phrased it. "Keeping this facility open is contrary to our values. It undermines our standing in the world." Oh really. Standing with Syria? Iraq? Iran? Russia? Israel?
GOP Sen. John Boozman supported the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (signed by Obama) which prohibits Gitmo detainees from being moved to the U.S.
"Closing Gitmo and transferring detainees to American soil creates needless national security risks and poses a threat to American citizens," Boozman said. "This is not what the American people want. That's why Congress has rejected the president's proposal time and time again. At a time when we are fighting global terrorism, holding these dangerous terrorists domestically is not the message our citizens want to hear. I believe that we must keep Gitmo open and I will continue to fight the president's efforts to close this facility and transfer terrorists to U.S. soil."
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 02/27/2016